DOL Listening Session 1/31: Reasonable Break Time for Nursing Mothers

On December 21, 2010, the
Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) published a "Request for
Information” (RFI) outlining the Department’s preliminary interpretations of
the "Break Time for Nursing Mothers” law, which was passed as part of the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and to seek public comment on these
interpretations and any other issues on which the public would like to comment.

WHD will host a series of listening sessions for the
public to learn more about the RFI and to provide feedback to WHD on any and
all issues pertaining to this new law, such as:

Duration
and Frequency:
What is adequate time to express breast milk? What is
"reasonable” break time from employee and employer perspectives?

Reasonable
Space & Features:
What does it mean for an employer to provide "a place” to express
breast milk? What features should be available in the place
(refrigeration, electrical outlet, sink with running water, chair, etc)? What potential contamination risks
exist?

Undue
Hardship: When should the
determination of the number of workers be made for the purpose of
claiming the undue hardship exemption? What standard is the most
appropriate?

Notice: How can the federal government best communicate
the law to nursing mothers and to employers? How and when should a
nursing mother notify her employer to invoke this right?

We invite you to participate in either of the following listening session:

Monday,
January 31, 2011
2:00
– 3:00pm (EST)

To receive the call information please RSVP to hunt.shari@dol.gov
and indicate the date and time you intend to participate.